Store-service apparatus



(Mew I. E'IOHBAUM.

STORE SERVICE APPARATUS.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

No. 465,964. Patented Dec. 29, 1891.

INVENTOR, 65' e g i g? ATTORNEYS.

WITNESSES.

m: uonms ws'rens 00., wonmrmo msnmarou, 9. c

I EIGH 2. Sheets-Sheet 2.

STORE SERVIGE APPARATUS.

(No Model.)

Patented 1360.29, 1891.

2 9 NW J Q W, a @V w JL L v I z 1 I v 7///////////// 7// r J 72%;?

P HI IIIIIU n, llklll! flmil lg llll INVENTOR Qjz' g TTo EYS n15 NORM!PETERS cm, mom-mum, msumcwu, a :4

FFI E \VALTER I. EIOHBAUM, OF MOUNT VERNON, NE\V YORK, ASSIGNOR, BYMESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE LAMSON CONSOLIDATED STORE SERVICE COM- PANY,OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

STORE-SERVICE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 465,964, datedDecember 29, 1891.

Application filed April 2 3 1 8 87.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER I. EICHBAUM, of Mount Vernon,in the county ofWVestohester and State of New York, have invented a 5 new and usefulImprovement in Store-Service Apparatus, of Which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to store-service apparatus for transferring cash orparcels, or both,

[C in stores and like locations, and more especially to that form ofapparatus (covered by Letters Patent of McCarty, No. 325,425, September21, 1885,) wherein the carrier is projected over the way by a spring orother means, imparting to the carrier an initial impetus.

The object I have in View is to provide such an apparatus with simpleand efficient means for elevating the cash-box, parcel-basket, or otherreceptacle to the way, when the latter is-located out of reach, as it isdesirable it should be, for automatically attaching the receptacle toand detaching it from the car that always remains upon the way and foroperating the projecting devices, the receptacle being elevated andattached to the car and the car-projecting devices being operated by onemovement of the hand of the saleswoman, but preferably successivelyrather than simultaneously, so that the projecting devices are notoperated by the movement of the elevator, but by a continued movement ofthe hand of the saleswoinan after the elevator has come to rest at theupper limit of its movement. 7

The invention consists in the various combinations of parts foraccomplishing this object, and in the several peculiar novel devicesforming parts of the apparatus, as fully hereinafter explained, andpointed out by the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, Figure 1 is anelevation and partial section of one form of the complete apparatus;Fig. 2, a top view of the platform 5 carrying the elevator-pulleys; Fig.3, a rear elevation of the elevator-platform; Fig. 4, an elevationshowing an arrangement of parts for multiplying the speed and extent ofmovement of the elevator; Fig. 5, a front elevation 50 of the pulleys ofthe modified lifting devices;

Serial No. 235,832. (No model.)

Fig. 6, a sectional view through the slide of Fig. 4; Fig. 7, anelevation of a modified form of the operating-slide; Figs. 8, 9, and 10,sectional views of the slide of Fig. 7 in different positions.

Like letters denote corresponding parts in all the figures.

I will first describe those parts of the cash or parcel carrier whichare in present use that are shown upon the drawings, and af- 6o terwarddescribe the additions which are shown and which constitute myinvention.

A is a standard, which is attached to the ceiling by a flange or othersupport, and which maybe fastened to the counter or floor at the lowerend.

Bis a wire which, being fastened to the standard, extends to thecashiers deslgwhere. the cash is to be received.

0 is the car with wheels to a, which run on the wire, which car isprovided with a thimble b for holding the cash-box D, which is thussuspended from the car, being usually pro-' vided with pins, which arenot shown on the drawings, as they are not needed with my device. Forthe purpose of propelling this car a rubber spring E is provided, fromthe lower end of which hangs a double'cord, forming a loop. This looppasses around two small sheaves c in the ends of a forked arm F,

which is fastened to the standard A, the other end of the spring havingattached to it a cord G, which, passing over a sheave d on the standard,hangs down as far as may be desired, being kept in position bya smallweight at its end. For the purpose of catching the cord-Loop and asimilar loop at the other end of the Wire, the car 0 is provided at eachend with a pair of horns e. lVhen the car is not at the station, thecord-loop hangs lightly be- 0 tween the small sheaves 0, being kept fromfalling by the weight at the other end of the cord; but when the carcomes in the horns upon the car catch the loop, and by its momentum thecar runs back nearly to the stand- 5' ard, where it is caught byspring-trigger f, which is fastened to the standard. In Fig.1 the hornse are shown with the cord-loop upon them. It now it is desired topropelthe car to the other st'ation, the operator takes hold of the end of thecord G and draws it down. The other end of the cord being held by thehorns of the car, which is itself prevented from moving by the catch onthe trigger f, the pull of the operator stretches the rubber spring, andthis stretchingtension continues until the button 9 upon the cord, whichstarted from the position where it is shown in dotted lines, is broughtdown upon the trig ger, as shown in full lines. It is in the positiondescribed that all the parts hitherto enumerated are shown in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings, and if any further pull is made upon the cord G thetrigger-catch will be drawn down into the dotted position shown, thecatch on the car will be released, and the tension of the rubber springwill draw the car violently forward and it will run on the wire to theother end of the line, from which end, when it is desired to return thecar, it is sent back by devices similar to those described.

The apparatus, as described, is usually placed upon the standard at sucha height from the floor that the cash-box D may be attached to ordetached from the car 0 by the hand of a person standing on the floor ora low stool; but this arrangement is often very inconvenient, as thewires take up valuable room, and the cash-box, being so near the floor,is within reach of strangers. For these and other reasons it isdesirable that the car should run near the ceiling.

It is the object of my invention to furnish means to raise a cash-box orparcel-carrier from the hand of the attendant 011 the floor to the carabove, even if the car is in a story above the sales-room.

I will now describe the parts and devices illustrating and constitutingmy invention.

H is a plate or platform, which is fastened to the standard A. It isforked or has a large hole in it, through which the cash-box D can pass,and it is provided with standards on the upper and lower sides for twosheaves h h. Into this plate are fastened two guide-rods t' i, whichextend downward to any distance required, their lower ends beingfastened to a bracket 7t on the standard, or to any other supportconvenient. Upon these guides runs an elevator-platform I, which isprovided with guide-tubes Z Z, sliding easily upon guide-rods t '6.Attached to this platform is a spring Z (shown in Fig. 8,) that standsbetween the guide-tubes on the under side of the platform. The purposeof this spring will be hereinafter explained. A small slide K, Fig. 1,slides easily upon the standard A, its upper plate having holes in itfor cords to pass through, as shown. A cord L, fastened to the bottom ofthe spring 1*, passes through a small hole in the plate of the elevator,passes over the sheaves 7L h, then through a hole in slide K, andterminates in a handle m, within reach of the operator. By means of thiscord the elevator I can be drawn from its lower position at the bottomof the guides i i to its upper position, as shown in Fig. 1,it beingthere effectually stopped by the plate 11. The height of the plate IIupon the standard A is so arranged that when the elevator I is stoppedby it the cash-box is pushed up into the thimble b very nearly but notquite to the full extent. For holding the cash-box D when thus elevated,the car G is provided with four grips, two on each side of the car,marked at it. These grips are levers pivoted at their upper corners uponscrews shown in the drawings, and the grips of each pair are heldtogether by a light spring n Fig. 1. The lower ends of these grips arearranged to hold the cash-box by the inclined shoulder a their endsbeing hooked at the same angle, which is about forty-five degrees. Theaction of these grips is such that when the upper part of the cash-box Dpushes them apart as it enters the thimble b, they are drawn together bythe springs a and, their inclined surfaces acting on thesimilarly-inclined shoulder 71 on the cash-box, the latter is drawn up alittle from the platform of the elevator, enough to release it fromcontact therewith, thereby becoming a part of the car, which would otherwise be disturbed in its forward movement by the dragging of thecash-box upon the platform of the elevator. The car, with the cashbox,is now ready to move forward when released from the trigger f. Toaccomplish this a button g is fastened to the cord L in such a positionthat no matter what the play or rise of the elevator I may be it doesnot begin to act upon the slide K, which always rests on a button 9 onthe cord G, as shown, until the remaining upward movement of theelevator corresponds to that required to stretch the spring E to therequired tension to shoot the car to the other end of the line. As shownin Fig. 1, the rubber spring E is thus stretched,

and it is evident that a further pull on the handle an will, actingthrough the buttons on the cords L and G and the slide K, draw down thetrigger and release the car. The elevator I cannot rise further,but thepull on the cord L compresses the spring P, which allows suflicientmovement of the cord to pull the trigger and release the car, which,under the impulse of the spring, runs off on the wire to itsdestination.

It is evident that the cash-box D is only held in place by the fourgrips n n, and if these were opened the cash-box would fall. Thisopening is accomplished at each end of the line to release the box asfollows: The upper ends of the grips are formed with horizontal arms, asshown on the drawings, the arm 0 resting on the arm 0' of the other gripof each pair. The upper arms on each side are connected by abridge-piece0 At a suitable height above this bridge-piece is fitted,

in the center of the car, a sliding rod 19, having in the middle of itslength a taper thimble 1). \Vheneverthis rod is moved between itssupports, the taper thimble passes over the bridge-piece and depressesthe arms 0 0', thereby opening the grips and releasing the ceasescash-box. At each end of the line is fixed upon the arm Fa stop 19 whichis so adjusted that as the car runs up to it the sliding rod 19 will bepushed over the bridge at the right time to release the cash-box, therest of the movement of the slide 19 placing it in position to beoperated upon at the other end of the line and allowing the grips toclose ready to receive the box when pushed between them, as alreadydescribed. The cash-box when thus released falls down between the forkedarms of the platform I-I, being guided in its descent by light rods qand received by the platform of the elevator, which may be faced with ablock of soft rubber to deaden the noise and prevent injury to the box.

The rods q are arranged to be opened at the point q to enable the box tobe removed from and placed on the elevator when at the lower limit ofits movement.

If the spring Z is made long enough, the parts can be so adjusted thatthe button will not strike the slide K until the elevator has completedits upward movement, or, as otherwise described, the spring E may be putunder tension during the last part of the movement of the elevator; butwith either adjustment the spring Z will permit a further movement ofthe handle matter the elevator is stopped by the plate H, so that theprojecting devices can be operated.

In case the distance through which the cashbox is desired to be raisedand lowered is considerable the slide K may have one or more sheaves 0attached to it, corresponding sheaves 0" being placed on the under sideof the platform II. A cord r attached to the elevator like the cord L,is passed over the sheave h and around the sheaves r and r and securedat its other end to the platform H or the slide K. In this way themovement of the slide K will be multiplied at the elevator any number.of times desired. Vith this arrangement for multiplying the motion thespring Z on the elevator is omitted, and, instead thereof, the slide Kcarries an auxiliary slide K, connected with the slide K by a spring 5,Figs. 4 and 6, which takes the place of the spring Z of the arrangementpreviously described. A guide-rod s also connects the slides K and K,and a cord r for operating the parts is attached to the auxiliary slideK. The cord G passes through the auxiliary slide K, and the button 9 onthat cord is reached by the slide K in its downward movement,preferably, just as the elevator reaches the upper limit of its movementand comes to rest against the plate H. The spring .9 is long enough topermit a sufficient movement of the auxiliary slide K, independent ofthe slide K, to stretch the spring E and depress the trigger f, althoughthe parts may be adjusted so that the spring E will be partly stretchedbeforethe elevator comes-to rest.

The preferred way of connecting the slides K K is shown in Figs. '7, 8,9, and 10. By

the devices illustrated in these figures the top limit of its movement,when the auxil iary slide is automatically unlocked from the main slideand the additional movement necessary to operate the projecting devicesthen made. The slide K is made as a tube sur rounding the slide K. A,spring-dog i, carried by a slot in the side of the tubular slide K, hasan enlarged beveled head also entering a slot t in the slide K, lockingthe slides positively together so long as the surface of the tubularstandard A is intact, as shown in Fig. 9. At a proper point to stop theslide K at the lower end of its movement the standard A is slotted, andinto this slot springs the head of the dog 25, it be ing forced out ofthe slot t in the slide K by reason of its beveled head, as shown inFig. S.

The movement of the slide K can then be continued, Fig. 10, and theprojecting spring E stretched and released. The slide K is thrown upagain bya light spring it until the slot t is over the dog if, when thedog. springs into the slot t, and the slides K and K can then risetogether. Since the springu is only required to lift the slide K, itcanbe made very light, and it can also be long enough to permit theprojecting spring E to remain'unaffected until the elevator is stoppedat the upper limit of its movement, when, by the continued movement ofthe s1ideK,the spring E will be stretched and the trigger f tripped torelease the car.

I do not claim the combination of an elevated way, a car mounted totravel on said way, a receptacle detachably suspended from said car,'acatch device for locking the receptacle to the frame of the car in itssuspended position, and a separate elevator situated stationarily at theend of the way in position to receive the receptacle and constructed toraise or lower the same 'to and from the car, substantially asdescribed, as such subject-matter is embodied in the first claim of anapplication of Robert A. McCarty, filed October 21, 1886, Serial No.216,886.

What I claim is- 1. In a store-service apparatus, the combination, witha way, a carrier having a detachable receptacle, and a propellingdevice, of an elevator for lifting the receptacle to the carrier, anddevices for raising the elevator and operating the propelling deviceconnected to move the latter after the elevator is raised, substantiallyas described.

2. In a store-service apparatus, the combination, with a way, a carrierhaving a detachable receptacle, and a propelling device and operatingdevices therefor, of an elevator for lifting the receptacle to thecarrier and operating devices therefor, and connections between the twooperating devices to move the propelling devices after the elevator israised, substantially as described.

3. In a store-service apparatus, the combination,with a Way,a carrierhaving a detachable receptacle, and a propelling device, of an elevatorfor lifting the receptacle to the carrier, cords for raising theelevator and opera-ting the propelling device, and a slide connectingsuch cords after the elevator has made part or all of its movement,whereby the pr0- j ecting device will be operated by a continuation ofthe movement which lifts the elevator, substantially as described.

4. In a store-service apparatus, the combination of a carrier having adetachable receptacle, a propelling device, an elevator for lifting thereceptacle to the carrier, an operatinghandle, devices conn eetin g theoperating-hair WALTER I. EICHBAUL.

Vitnesses:

H. W. SEELY, HENRY EIOHBAUM.

